


The Wedding March

by justbygrace



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 09:12:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3972322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justbygrace/pseuds/justbygrace





	The Wedding March

She takes a deep breath, one hand damp as it clutches her father's arm, and faces forward. At the end of the aisle waits a man she knew as a boy and a teenager and now stands with the bearing of a man, ready to take on the world, but only if she is at his side. They lock eyes as she takes the first step and the wedding march begins.

Not too many years off there is a war and it calls his name with all the power of a siren and he answers because he has to and she knows it. She cries herself to sleep for a month and then joins the throngs of warriors standing strong at home, never giving up and never giving in with a force that would cause half his squadron to resign. When the small plus sign appears she calls him collect, goes home to cry on her mother's shoulder, and then picks up and prepares for what is next. He is born six months before his daddy's first leave and saves his first smile for the tall man in military colors who swings his tiny family through the air before marching, soldier straight, into the nearest center to announce his permanent leave for whatever the first reason is that pops into his head. It is Summer there and everything has changed, but it is Spring here, with a wide open future, and the wedding march plays on.

There was once a dream of a house of children, of time spent in a small town rubbing shoulders with their neighbors, but weeks turn into months turn into one year and then two and they realize that it is swift becoming a nightmare. They pack up and move, not once, not twice, but continuously - their shoulders rubbing with strangers that become friends, the world their town, their only son's whiskey eyes and puppy dog enthusiasm filling their hearts with joy. It is a different dream, but it is a bright one filled with hope and, more importantly, it is reality. The seasons flash by as rapidly as the countries they visit, but it is Spring here, they love this tiny town, and the wedding march plays on.

It is half a world away and a lifetime ahead and they work, side-by-side, in a small village whose language they do not share, but whose people they have grown to love. The ones back home tell them they are too old to still be taking these trips, but they laugh because what does age have to do with anything? Nothing when he can still heal the sick while she nurtures their minds, nothing when he can still help new life into the world while she soothes the brand new mama, nothing at all. There are people who need their help and everyone back home can do well enough without them. After all, they make phone calls when they can and send post cards when they can't and the grandkids are regaled with stories of far off places on those rare trips home - they can still do good where they are and they plan to stay. It is Autumn in that place, but it is Spring in this one and the wedding march plays on.

Somewhere nearby is an aisle with too-white walls and too-bright lights and she will push a wheelchair and joke as the disease make a mockery of the years between them. She will touch his shoulder and he will grasp her hand with one as wrinkled and the shadow will fall from his eyes as he smiles up at her. They will hold hands and the nurses will look the other way as she stays way past visiting hours and falls asleep in his arms because she never learned how to sleep any other way. It is nearly Winter there, but it is pure Spring now and the wedding march plays on.

He stands taller as she closes the distance between them, the gathered friends and family a mere blur. The air is alive with whispers and questions - will they make it? they are so young! - and the smell of green grass and apple blossoms and growing things, but it is a mere breeze and they are certain they are prepared for anything and everything because it is Spring now and the wedding march comes to an end.


End file.
